<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Family Dinner by UnicornAffair</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24728017">Family Dinner</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornAffair/pseuds/UnicornAffair'>UnicornAffair</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Power Ranger Pride Month 2020 [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Power Rangers (2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, M/M, One Shot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:20:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,668</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24728017</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornAffair/pseuds/UnicornAffair</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>With pride month rolling around, Trini thought it was important to celebrate as blood didn’t always make for family. Of course they went to the big city to have their part in a pride festival, but the yellow ranger wanted something more intimate. She decided that the best course of action would be to host a special dinner that she prepared herself...a feast fit for her ranger family.</p><p>Day 14: Hurt</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jason Lee Scott/Zack Taylor, Kimberly Hart/Trini</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Power Ranger Pride Month 2020 [14]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770007</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Family Dinner</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Haha this one was inspired by a damn good lunch, wanted to do a different take on the word hurt since the past couple of days have been angst.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Five teenagers from different walks of life stumbled upon power coins, their lives changing forever. What started out as learning how to bond with one another on a deeper connection became something greater. Through their friendship they could build a support system like no other; and have the strength, and courage to let their true selves shine through. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Trini didn’t need relatives that wanted to put her in a box. Dress nicer, find a nice boy, </span>
  <em>
    <span>be</span>
  </em>
  <span> ‘normal’...be straight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kimberly stopped putting so much effort into what other people thought of her. She wasn’t a cheerleader anymore, she wasn’t popular. There was a day where Kimberly could surround herself with people and still feel alone. What the hell was the point of it all then? 4 people could make her feel loved, that was all that mattered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So much anger bubbled up in Jason. His relationship with his father felt frayed. The pressure of </span>
  <em>
    <span>being</span>
  </em>
  <span> a football star, using </span>
  <em>
    <span>sports</span>
  </em>
  <span> as his ticket out of Angel Grove because how the hell could a family like the Scotts afford college? He sure wasn’t smart enough to get an academic degree. The young man was like a pressure cooker who finally exploded at dumb high school prank. Then when he went down for a prank? Not only did his football team drop him like a hot potato, but the entire town turned their back on him. With his ranger team…he was respected as a leader, for </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> not for his father’s glory days. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zack was always terrified of being alone when his mother passed. He lived in the trailer park, there wasn’t much money to his name. What would happen to him when she left...now he had people who cared about him. Friends---family who wouldn’t let him slip through the cracks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Billy? He was always popular among his peers at school. The nerds, the dweebs, the ones who enjoyed comic books and D&amp;D. Friends were never a problem for him. Only, when it came to standing up for himself...he froze. The fast talking, stats loving, boy went silent...always complacent. No more. Not now that he’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>superhero </span>
  </em>
  <span>with bad ass friends. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The team worked together well, vanquishing aliens from invading their home. No one would ever learn their secret of being power rangers, superheroes. No one </span>
  <em>
    <span>could</span>
  </em>
  <span> ever grasp at how much these five teens meant to one another. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Trini and Kimberly danced around their feelings since the Rita Repulsa days. It didn’t take long for them to </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally</span>
  </em>
  <span> get together and start dating; be the ideal couple.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jason had to face a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot</span>
  </em>
  <span> of demons in the mirror when he started to open up about his sexuality. It went against everything he was raised to be...his anger threatened to take over his life again. Zack was always one to challenge him, to make him ask questions, to </span>
  <em>
    <span>face</span>
  </em>
  <span> his feelings head on. The red and the black ranger’s relationship started very </span>
  <em>
    <span>charged, </span>
  </em>
  <span>they explored each other...what they liked...what felt right. Along the way their relationship went beyond friends with benefits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With pride month rolling around, Trini thought it was important to celebrate as blood didn’t always make for family. Of course they went to the big city to have their part in a pride festival, but the yellow ranger wanted something more intimate. She decided that the best course of action would be to host a special dinner that she prepared herself...a </span>
  <em>
    <span>feast</span>
  </em>
  <span> fit for her ranger family.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Does...she need any help?” Jason asked, rubbing the back of his neck as he entered the base. Alpha 5 had already gone through the trouble of setting up tables for them. The only thing he and Zack contributed was beverages. Water for Billy, beers for Trini, Jason and Zack...and sprite and grenadine to make Shirley temples...Kimberly always had to be a bit extra. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve got it” Zack affectionately patted his boyfriend’s shoulder, passing the red and pink rangers in favor of helping the yellow in their little kitchen. “It’s safer that way” He teased from afar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You did a good job with the drinks,” Kimberly laughed, trying to reassure Jason that he wasn’t a </span>
  <em>
    <span>complete</span>
  </em>
  <span> disaster in the kitchen. No, no that was her title. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...How’s she holding up?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kimberly bit her bottom lip, staring off into the direction of where her girlfriend was diligently working. She didn’t have the heart to say that Trini was acting a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot</span>
  </em>
  <span> like her mother June, wanting this dinner to go perfectly. When in the zone, caring about something, Trini could be a bit of a monster. “Good...good” The pink ranger folded her arms, “She put me in charge of dessert”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jason blinked, “You ah...</span>
  <em>
    <span>made </span>
  </em>
  <span>dessert?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“God no” Kimberly couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of her girlfriend trusting her enough to </span>
  <em>
    <span>bake, </span>
  </em>
  <span>“I went to Krispy Kreme” A suiting dessert for a power ranger party.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey everyone” Billy wasn’t normally the </span>
  <em>
    <span>last</span>
  </em>
  <span> of the rangers to arrive, no one accounted for Jason and Zack actually getting their shit together quickly. He had come just in time, Trini was quick to put him to work...setting the table for their feast.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Trini outdid herself this time, making enough food to feed an entire football team. She was sure to keep their heightened metabolism in mind. Her family always celebrated occasions with big meals such as this...but to the yellow ranger, she always felt forced into going and never actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>enjoying</span>
  </em>
  <span> herself. She wanted this to be different, she wanted </span>
  <em>
    <span>pride</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be different. Trini felt a sense of joy seeing Jason and Zack bump knees, laughing about some attempt of a date they went on. Kimberly would catch Trini’s eye from across the table, licking her lips with purpose. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No what caught the attention of the four teenagers was Billy, the blue ranger who was curiously </span>
  <em>
    <span>texting</span>
  </em>
  <span> more than </span>
  <em>
    <span>talking. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Now, they all knew that their friend wasn’t a big fan of having cellphones at the table but he couldn’t pull his eyes away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who’re you texting there?” With a prompting nod from Kimberly, it was Zack to lean over and try and see only to be surprised. “Is that...Grindr?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Billy quickly held the phone against his chest, “It’s rude to look at other people’s phones”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Billy” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Kimberly’s eyes widened, her voice shocked--scandalized, “Share with the class, is he cute?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well…” Billy trailed off, the others learned that the ‘innocent nerd’ wasn’t as ‘innocent’ as they had expected him to be. Billy was all too curious about his sexuality, especially after seeing the likes of his teammates getting together. He was a young man with needs, not someone who needed to be babied. “His name is Noah...he’s a marine biology student out in Harwood, his favorite color is blue...which works out for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Billy turned the phone towards his friends to show a biracial boy in glasses with curly hair and beautiful eyes,...an intellectual a perfect match for someone like the blue ranger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dinner quickly turned from a prideful family get together to the rangers trying to help Billy with texting advice to help their friend get a </span>
  <em>
    <span>date, </span>
  </em>
  <span>maybe even more. Zack and Kimberly took point in teaching him how to flirt without seeming to be needy or </span>
  <em>
    <span>too</span>
  </em>
  <span> standoffish. Trini kept putting her two cents in, arguing with Zack and Kimberly that Billy didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>need</span>
  </em>
  <span> any sort of help...that he just needed to be himself. Jason, he wasn’t very much help either way, he continued to pile food on his plate and nod his head every now and again when Zack asked for someone to agree with him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever you do!” Kimberly raised her glass as if making a toast, “Don’t send a dick pic” Having experience with nude photos gone awry, Kimberly’s advice was sound and from a good place. She pounded her pink drink to punctuate her point. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d never do that!” Billy put a finger up, “I appreciate what you’re all trying to do! Really, I am, but no offense” He motioned around the table to all of the rangers around him, “I’ve got more experience than all of you combined”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Trini started to choke on her drink, pounding her chest as if it were to help relieve the pain. Zack shook his head, absolutely dumbfounded by the idea of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Billy Cranston</span>
  </em>
  <span> having more sexual experience than he. Jason had to put down his fork, the chicken could wait. While Kimberly squinted, really trying to compare in her head what her number was...no...there was no </span>
  <em>
    <span>way</span>
  </em>
  <span> Billy had </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span> beat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s simple statistics” Billy shrugged his shoulders, “Once you guys dated, and you girls dated...you plateaued whereas I’m on an upward incline” He used a pointer finger to indicate his performance peaks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“....Can I see your phone?” Kimberly asked cautiously, “I promise, I won’t text Noah for you”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Billy handed his phone to </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kimberly, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she was someone that he could trust with something so sensitive. Zack? Mm, no, he was a confirmed shit stirrer. All the pink ranger wanted to do was check out Billy’s profile. After his ranger glow up, Billy Cranston was a sweet, sensitive, intelligent, nerdy boy………...with the abs, and arms of a superhero. He was the complete package...</span>
  <em>
    <span>literally. </span>
  </em>
  <span>They now lived in a world where Billy Cranston was the sexy one. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You got an incoming message from...Tommy Oliver?” Kimberly frowned, “You’re messaging two boys at once?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re just friends!” Billy reached for his phone, Jason and Zack laughing in the background. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Trini wasn’t expecting her dinner to go the way that it did...but that was the thing about family. Life always ran on the unexpected. What mattered most was being around loved ones, laughter, and food so damn good that when everything was said and done...everyone’s stomachs were hurting so much from satisfaction, and a damn good nap was in order.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>